A dream fulfilled by Redgrave

Being Steve Redgrave, the thought will always nag away in his mind that he may have one more miracle to work, one more gold to collect. "Oh yes," he said today, seconds after revealing that he was going to call it a day. "It's still there, the voice which makes me think 'Well, maybe there's one more Games left in me' . . . "

Today, though, our national sporting treasure let us know that, this time, those siren voices will never be able to woo him back. The greatest career in Olympic annals is over and British sport will feel a sense of emptiness without his colossal presence on the water.

The problem with Redgrave is that when a man can win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold at the age of 38 in a brutal endurance sport at the same time as fighting diabetes, then a nation expects him to be able to do anything - like win a sixth at the age of 42? So, while in our heart of hearts we knew it was the perfect time for him to bow out, it is a measure of how extraordinary he is that, even today, before he announced the decision about his future, nobody was sure what that decision would be.

Ultimately, though, pragmatism won over one more reckless adventure. "It's when I sit down and think about the hard work and dedication that would have to go into going on to Athens and when I remember how hard it had been over the past four years that I realise I just don't want to put myself through that again," he explained.

He had, he said, had a ball this past six weeks since his Sydney triumph. The nation was crying "Arise, Sir Steve", Marlow had given him a king's homecoming, thousands had come to watch him row in his own event and he was quite overwhelmed by the sense of goodwill he'd felt.

It was the sort of fuss, he reckoned, which made him think that, well, Athens was actually only about three-and-a-half years away and, never mind all the talk about his health, perhaps he could still be fit enough to compete there. He also knew that, if he made it there, he could become the oldest oarsman in history to win a gold medal.

"Yet, somehow, Athens couldn't hold the same attraction as Sydney," he explained. "Sydney was a big draw to me. I thought it would be a fantastic Olympics with their tremendous sporting culture and their enthusiasm for the Games and that's how it proved. I wanted to be part of that but I don't have any feelings like that at all for Athens. Sydney fulfilled everything I expected and more and I couldn't see any point in carrying on after that."

In truth, he said, the decision had already been made on that unforgettable Saturday when the four rowed into history at Penrith.

"The lads in the boat knew my decision and, to be honest, it wasn't too difficult a decision to make," he said. "It wasn't an age issue or a health issue, but a lifestyle issue.

"What I'm looking forward to is being more in control of my life and being able to do things when I want to do them. Once you've made the decision to go for an Olympics, you're stuck on that path for four years and your thoughts have to be centred on that path.

"But I've got a young family now, and I think they deserve more of my time and deserve to be able to have holidays which don't always have to fit in around my routine."

In other words, it was time for him to get a life, and his fantastically patient wife, Ann, and their three young kids, will doubtless agree.

A couple of years ago, I had spent a morning at Henley, watching him go through his extraordinarily taxing training paces. Unshaven and grumpy, he explained how monotonous it was, ploughing up and down the same stretch of the Thames hour after hour, day after day, year after year. It looked it, too.

Yet still he finds it amusing that people think he will not know what to do with himself when he no longer has that aim of another gold to shoot for. He reassures us that he will not miss the daily grind and, anyway, his life looked as if it was going to be pretty full from now on anyway.

His future is far from planned but, already, the extraordinary explosion of publicity which has surrounded an authentic hero since he returned from the Games has even surprised Redgrave and made him realise that he could well be a man in demand for a very long time.

He has not yet had time to talk through the future in detail with his long-time coach Jurgen Grobler yet revealed that the German had wanted him to be "involved in some way, even if it's just coming along and doing a little bit of training."

But he does not see himself getting involved in a similar coaching capacity. "Both of us don't really want to join forces on the coaching side because I know that coaches put in the same time commitment as the athletes and it's that time commitment I want to get away from, not the sport itself."

Instead, he said, he felt as though his best role could be as an "ambassador" for his sport. "And one thing I really see myself being involved with is developing my Supersprint series more as a great way of keeping rowing in the forefront. That's where my efforts will be centred," he said. "After all, the sport will still be just as good without me."

Of course, though, British sport isn't going to be as good without him. After 20 years of sacrifice, commitment and pain which most of us can scarcely credit and after achievement which almost defies imagination, we will miss the latest chapter in his Boys' Own tale but, let's face it, nobody ever deserved a rest more richly.